Thrust bearing



July 29, |924.

G. E. LUCE THRUST BEARING Filed May 24 s sheetsfsheet 1 July 29, 1924.' 1,502,859

` G. E. LUCE THRUST BEARING Filed May 24, 1923 5y sheets-sheet 2 G. E. LUCE THRUsT BEARING July 29 .1924.

S'Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 24 1923 Patented July 2g, 1924.

ISQLSSQ GRAFTON E. LUCE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

THRUST BEARING.

Application ledkMay 24, 192,3. Serial No. 641,249.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it knoWn that I, GRAFTQNE. LUCE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented an Improvement in Thrust Bearings, of which thefollowing description, in connection With the accompanying-drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

My present invention relates to cranes, and more particularly to bearings for use in cranes of the jib or locomotive type.

In the mechanical handling of brick and Aother clay articles during the" manufacture thereof, and particularly the operation of .mechanically building up a kiln preparatory to burning the brick, I have found that. a crane of the jib or locomotive type is best adapted to perform the stacking of the units Jof brick in the kiln. In my copendingv application Serial No. 430,033, filed Dec. l1, l1920, I have described and claimed an improved form of locomotive craneadapted for carrying out my improved method. In the practical application of my inventions relating to the automatic handling of brick during vthe manufacture lthereof and in which I utilize my improved locomotive crane, above referred to, I have found that the tremendous Weights handled by the crane impose a severe strain on all parts of the crane, and particularly on the turntable thereof, and this is particularly noticeable When it becomes necessary to place a unit' of brick .in position, in the kiln beingbuilt ,up, at the farthest limit of extension of the boom of the crane. The problem of designing an anti-friction bearing to enable the boom to revolve about the axis of the crane regardless of the Weight carried at the end of the boom is a comparatively simple one if the load is balanced With respect to the axis, as by counterbalancing the Weight of the load'with a movable countervveight, but the addition ofy such countervveight to an already heavy apparatus is objectionable. In a self-propelled, trackless crane, such as described in my copending application above referred to, the Weight of the apparatus is about thirty tons and it Will be evident and yetenable 'the boom of the crane to f handle any load Within its capacity and vat any distance from the axis of the crane, I have devised the improved anti-friction bearing forming the subject matter of the present invention, `and Vby means yof which .y

the boom, with its load, may be freely rotated about the axis of the crane Without danger of the boom falling because of the turntable lifting.

The object of my inventionl therefore,V is an improved anti-friction bearing for turntables and the like on which a'load is'vcafrried in unbalanced relation thereto. I

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan'vievv of'a self propelled, trackless crane of the` locomotive type to ivhich my invention has been applied, portions of the apparatus carried on the turntable being omitted for clearness'of villustration; v

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 2 2 of Figure l;

Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal lsection on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section onA the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. v

Referring to the drawings, designates a front axle having rotatably mounted thereon at either end the broad faced Wheels 11 of suitable diameter, and 12 designates a rear axle having attached thereto, at either A end, broad faced Wheels 13 similar to the Wheels 11. 14 designates a platform provided on its lower face, and at the frontend thereof, with a rotatable bracketl encircling the front axle 10, to Which it is pivot- Y 14, a bevel gear 22 on the lower end of this shaft 18 meshing with a bevel gear 23 on one end of a shaft 24 that is rotatably mounted in bearings 25 on the lower face of the platform 14, a bevel gear 26 on the other end of the shaft 24 meshing with a bevel gear 27 secured to the rear axle 12. Power is transmitted to the shaft 18 through bevel gear 127 from any suitable source of power, but as the details of such driving mechanism do not concern the present invention, it has not been illustrated and will not be further described.

The wheel 21 is provided on its upper peripheral face with a bevelled lroller race 28, and has secured to its upper face a gear 29, for a purpose to be hereinafter described. Concentric with the wheel 21 and exterior thereof, and secured to the platform 14, is a circular channel member 30, provided on the lower face of its upper and inwardly eX- tending portion 31 with a bevelled roller face 32, the bevel of this race 32 being in a direction opposite to the direction of the bevel of the roller race 28, as will be clearly seen from an inspection of Fig. 4. Rotatably mounted on the upper portion of the bearing 19 is a turntable 33, having secured to its lower face a circular U-shaped member 34 of an external diameter greater than the external diameter of the platform 14 and less than the internal diameter of the circular channel member 30, and provided at in tervals around its periphery with depending lugs 35 carrying shafts 38 on which are rotatably mounted the double anti-friction rollers 36 and 37, these rollers being shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 4. Rotatably mounted in the turntable 33 is a shaft 39 having secured to its lower end a spur gear 40 meshing with the gear 2.() and driven by a gear 41 that may be connected with any suitable source of power to rotate the turntable 33 on the platform 14.

It will be evident that the weight of the turntable 33 is carried by the rollers 3G which bear on the roller race 28, and that this will be true if any weight is carried by the turntable in balanced relation with respect to the shaft 18. If, how ver, a boom is mounted on the turntable 33, and such boom is swung outwardly to its limit and a weight attached to the end thereof, there will be a tendency for one end, or side, of the turntable to lift up, freeing the rollers 36 on such end, or side, from the race 23, while the rollers 36 on the weighted end, or side, of the turntable will be forced into firmer engagement with the race 28, and if such weight is great enough, there is danger of the boom falling due to too great a lift of s one end, or side, of the turntable. In my improved construction, this lifting of one end, or side, of the turntable 33, brings into play the rollers 37 and race 32, which counteract any weight that may be placed on the boom, within the limits of the capacity of the material comprising the device. It should be understood that the rollers 36 and 37 are always in engagement with the races 2S and 32 respectively, and as such rollers are freely rotatable on the shafts 38, my improved con-- struction ensures easy working of the turntable 33 and all parts mounted thereon, and all loads carried by such parts, under all conditions.

lNhile I have necessarily described the preferred embodiment of my invention somewhat in detail, it is to be understood that I may vary the size, shape, and arrangement of parts constituting my improved apparatus within wide limits without depart ing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is:

1. In an improved bearing, the combination of a plurality of bearing races concentrically arranged with respect to each other, a rotatable member, a shaft mounted thereon, a roller rotatably mounted on said shaft and engaging with one of said races to carry the weight of the rotatable member, a second roller rotatably mounted on said shaft and engaging with the other of said races, whereby lifting of one side of said rotatable member is prevented.

2. In an improved bearing, the combination of a plurality of bearing races concentrically arranged with respect to each other, a circular rotatable member, a shaft mount ed therein, a roller rotatably mounted on said shaft and engaging with one of said races to carry the weight of the rotatable member, a second roller rotatably mounted on said shaft and engaging with the other of said races, whereby lifting of one side of said rotatable member is prevented.

3. In an improved bearing, the combination of a plurality of bearing races concen trically arranged with respect to each other, a circular rotatable member, a shaft radial` ly mounted therein, a roller rotatably mounted on said shaft and engaging with one of said races to carry the weight of the rotatable member, a second roller rotatably mounted on said shaft and engaging with the other of said races, whereby lifting of one side of the rotatable member is prevented.

4. In an improved bearing for the turntables of cranes and the like, the combination of a base, a circular bearing race mounted thereon, a turntable mounted on said base for rotation in the axis of the circular bearing race, a circular' member secured to the lower face of the turntable, a plurality of shafts secured in said turntable and radially disposed with respect to the axis of the circular bearing race, rollers,

n one for each of said shafts and rotatably mounted thereon, said rollers cooperating with the circular bearing race to sustain the weight of the turntable and all elements carried thereby, a second bearing race secured to the base, encircling and spaced from the rst said circular bearing race, said second circular bearing race lying' 1n a plane above the plane passing through the first said eiroular bearing race, rollers on said shafts cooperating with the second circular bearing race, whereby upward movement of the periphery of the turntable is prevented.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specication.

GRAFTON E. LUCE. 

